Richard Milton (1594 - abt. 1660)

Date: 10 Jun 2023 [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Website of Michael Milton [Milton-429]

Note from the website of Michael Milton [Milton-429] [1] I thank God that just 10 generations ago, in September of 1620, my grandfather, Richard Milton of Gloucestershire, England, in the parish of St. Mary’s, Fairford, was not on the companionship, a ship called Mayflower, but caught his ship, three weeks later, called Supply, sailing under the command of a Captain William Tracy. He was passenger number 18 on Tracy’s manifest. The Captain read young Richard Milton’s name with the others as the intrepid voyagers landed near the Jamestown settlement on January 29, 1621. He was able to join in what would become a great American civic holiday that was unabashedly focused on America’s dependence on God’s provision: Thanksgiving. Much lay ahead. My tenth great-grandfather escaped the Indian massacre of 1622 when the Powhatan Confederacy slaughtered 347 people, a quarter of the English population of Jamestown. Richard Milton later married Margaret Ross, daughter of the Scotsman, John Ross.

For a while the Miltons lived at the Berkeley Plantation and then the Shirley Plantation, caring for kine, or cattle. But the records tell a story of American progress by pain and plow and Providence. The Milton family acquired Virginia gold: land. Richard and Margaret became a Virginia planter family. Richard would live through the trials of Indian attacks, family crises, and the invariable good and hard times of any farmer to be 95 years of age. Along the way he left a historical record of his life by way of legal documents: land bought and sold, a will drawn up and then, at length, executed. He was an able gentleman and scrivener to the end, affording generations that came after him an opportunity to read the story of his life and his faith in Jesus Christ. His last will and testament begins with a powerful testimony to the righteousness of Christ and atoning blood which was his only hope. This is how our family’s American story began.

King James I

Ascended to the throne: March 24, 1603 aged 36 years Crowned: July 25, 1603 at Westminster Abbey, also as James VI of Scotland at Stirling Castle on July 29, 1567 Died: March 27, 1625 at Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire, aged 58 years, 9 months, and 7 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 22 years, 3 days, King of Scotland for 57 years 1567-1625

King James I [2] His education, although thorough, was weighted with strong Presbyterian and Calvinist political doctrine, and his character – highly intelligent and sensitive, but also fundamentally shallow, vain, and exhibitionist – reacted violently to this. He was however a supporter of literature and arts. William Shakespeare was among the ‘Kings Men’ troupe of actors who performed plays for their patron James. He commissioned the King James Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, which remains one of the most important English translations of the Bible. His religious policy consisted of asserting the supreme authority and divine right of the crown and suppressing both Puritans and Catholics who objected. During his reign the East India Company expanded trade bringing spices from the East, and Jamestown was founded in Virginia.